


Survivor

by prompom



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: BAMF Prompto Argentum, Human Experimentation, M/M, Rated For Violence, The Forest AU, mentions of cannibalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:01:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27453916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prompom/pseuds/prompom
Summary: All Gladio wanted to do was take his baby sister on holiday. Instead he finds himself stranded on a island that isn't as deserted as it first seems.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21
Collections: Promptio Big Bang 2020





	Survivor

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for the promptio big bang 2020! Thanks to all the moderators for organising the event! I worked with the amazing miluette fot this event! Art work is at the end.

For Iris’s tenth birthday, Gladio wanted to take her to Altissia. He paid for everything. He wanted his little sister’s day to be special, and he also wanted to get her away from the messy divorce their parents were going through. Gladio was glad he had moved out when he was eighteen, five years ago. He felt bad about it now, leaving his baby sister with their fighting parents but he was selfish. Now he wanted to shield her from as much as he could.

She had been delighted when Gladio had surprised her with the trip. She had wanted to go to Altissa for as long as Gladio could remember her being around. Her favourite movie was set there. Gladio had brought her a new dress and they were going to go for a fancy dinner on her actual birthday. But first they had to get there.

Iris was excited about going on a plane. She clutched her moogle doll in her right hand as they sat in their seats on the plane. Gladio wished he had the money to splash out for the extra leg room, he was cramped in a pretty small place and it was a long flight. He sat Iris by the window so she could look out and hopefully the view, the films that were available and eating and sleeping would make the flight pass quickly for her.

About three hours in, Iris had fallen asleep leaning against Gladio’s arm. He smiled fondly at her and closed the sketch book that lay abandoned on the tray in front of her.

The plane shuddered and the intercom sounded. “Please make sure your trays are in their upright position and your seatbelts are on. We’re going through a small patch of turbulence.”

Before Gladio could even close the tray in front of him, the plane started to violently shake. Iris woke up with a scream. “Gladdy!”

There wasn’t time for him to answer her terrified screams as the plane suddenly started to nosedive. Gladio flung his arm out, holding Iris to her seat. She clutched his arm so tightly that her nails cut into his arm. There was the sound of screeching metal as the cockpit of the plane was wrenched off. Gladio couldn’t breathe from the force of the wind filling the cabin of the plane. It hit the ground and he fell forward, slamming his head onto the seat in front of him and everything turned black.

When Gladio opened his eyes, he saw his arm was covered in blood. Through his blurry vision, he saw a man standing over Iris, who was lying in the middle of the aisle of the plane. He tried to crawl towards her, but the man looked down at him and picked her up. She was still holding her moogle.

Gladio tried to crawl towards them. To stop him. He had his baby sister. But his body betrayed him and he fell into unconsciousness before he had even gone a meter.

He awoke again. This time it was light outside. He had no idea how long he had been lying on the floor. He gingerly pulled himself to his feet, and looked around the plane. It was completely empty, apart from a stewardess who was lying dead by where the cockpit used to be, the emergency fire axe sticking out of her chest. 

Gladio took a few deep breaths and tried to come up with a plan. He had no idea where he was or what had happened to his sister. Or where the rest of the plane passengers were. It was hard to think with the pain lancing down his face. He squeezed himself into the small bathroom and looked in the mirror. He had a long cut down his face, somehow narrowly avoiding damaging his eye. The wound was already beginning to swell.

The first thing he had to do was fix the wound as best as he could. He found a first aid kit. Half of the stuff was missing from it, but he did find some painkillers and a suture kit. Gladio’s only experience of stitches was seeing it on the TV, but he had to do something. He found a few unsmashed bottles of alcohol in the storage cupboards in the back of the plane, opened one and poured it on the cut. He swore as the wound stung and burned. With shaky hands, he closed the wound as best as he could. It was a mess but it wasn't bleeding anymore. He had bigger things to worry about than his face looking a little fucked up. He dry swallowed two of the painkillers and got to work.

He searched through the overhead luggage until he found his backpack. He emptied it of everything apart from a jacket and searched the plane for anything that could be useful. He found some cans of soda, some snack bars and a few more bottles of alcohol. He put Iris’s sketchbook inside the backpack, she would want it back when he found her. He debated for a half a second to grab the axe but couldn’t bring himself to yank it out of the stewardesses chest.

The ground wasn’t far off, so Gladio hopped down. As soon as he landed, he spun around. The clearing was completely empty apart from the wreckage of the plane and a few suitcases that were strewn around. Most of them weren’t locked but Gladio didn’t really find anything of note when he searched through them.

Gladio decided to walk as he thought, so he could at least get an idea to the general layout of the area. He didn't even want to be thinking of it, but he wouldn’t be able to help his sister if he died. So he needed to find a reliable source of food and water. And some sort of shelter. At the moment, it was a fair temperature but gods only knew what it would be like after dark. He was hyper vigilant as he walked through the woods. He was an avid hiker back home and knew what kind of dangers could lurk in the woods. He also kept an eye out for anything edible or any signs of life. 

Barely ten feet away from the crash site was a camp, a camp that was clearly abandoned. Gladio crept closer, he didn’t have anything to protect himself with if he was attacked by the animal that did this. The tents and sleeping bags were completely destroyed, torn to shreds and covered in old, dried blood. In the center of the camp, there was a human skull sitting on top of the remains of a campfire. It grinned at Gladio as he uneasily walked away. He never heard of an animal doing that before. It must have been a coincidence that it landed there.

Gladio decided to keep walking, as fast as possible so he could get away from whatever had done this. It didn’t take long for the trees to break and he was greeted by a strange site. There was a yacht, stranded in the bay, it wasn’t far out, only about ten meters. He could swim it if easily. That wasn’t the strange part, however, there were about six massive sharks, taller and bigger than Gladio himself, lying dead on the beach. He had never seen a beached shark before, let alone six in a small proximity. The only reasonable explanation he could come up with was that there must have been a bad storm, it knocked the plane out of the sky and the rough waters beached the sharks.

When he climbed down, he spotted what looked like a grave site. There was a pile of rocks and a cross made of sticks at the head of it. There was something resting against the cross, so Gladio bent down and picked it up. It was a polaroid picture of the yacht that was stranded. Something compelled Gladio to put the photo into his backpack, tucked into Iris’s sketchbook so it wouldn’t get bent.

He crouched by the waters edge, washing the dried blood off his body with the sea water. He felt better after. His backpack was waterproof, he had taken it when he had gone travelling for a month across Duscae and everything inside had stayed dry and that was a very wet place. He just wasn’t sure how well it would work in the sea. He decided he would have to risk it. 

The way the yacht was abandoned, it could have supplies on board and there was no way he could get them back to shore without it. He stripped off all his clothes, feeling exposed even though he was definitely the only person around for miles at least, and shoved the clothes and his shoes into his backpack. He put it back on and started to walk into the water. It was just a little too cold to be comfortable, but the water was fairly calm and it was an easy swim. The saltwater stung the wound on his face but at least it was cleaning it.

Gladio heaved himself onto the boat and started to look around. He started on the deck. He found a few coils of rope, which could be useful, so he looped them around his arm. Inside the yacht, he found a few more cans of soda and a massive box of granola bars. He opened his backpack, which had in fact stayed dry on the inside, and put his discoveries in there. He also found a door which was locked and could only be accessed with some sort of keycard. He opened the door to the bedroom and found a bear sitting on the bed, a captain's hat on its head. His stomach twisted as he realised that this was probably a child’s bear. 

On the bed was another polaroid picture, he picked it up. He couldn’t understand what he was seeing. It was some sort of weird creature. It had six apadenges it seemed to walk on and its skin was fairly human looking. It had what looked like breasts too, but it had no face and its arms were only little stumps. It looked like something out of a horror movie. 

“What the fuck is that?” he muttered to himself as he studied the picture. He couldn’t understand how someone could get this picture. Maybe it was fake? Maybe he had somehow stumbled onto the set of some horror movie or something? That was the only thing that made sense. He decided to take the picture anyway. 

At best, he had somehow stumbled onto a movie set and he would get rescued. They would have his sister and it would all be fine. The picture would make a cool souvenir in that case. It was either that or this was some sort of real creature that was around somewhere. But he thought that was very unlikely. There was no way something like that could be alive.

Gladio made his way back to shore and got redressed to protect his kin from the sun that was getting warmer as it climbed higher into the sky. His thoughts were consumed by the picture as he walked. He couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that it was something that was around, but that was stupid. 

Over the next hill, he found a long abandoned campsite. The tent was torn to shreds and dried blood covered the sleeping bag. He took the iron pot that was on the campfire. It might come in useful if he had to cook something or boil water to make it safe to drink. He had to adjust everything in his backpack to fit that in too. A massive anchor had somehow washed up onto the beach near to the camp. Gladio was a tall man, over six feet tall, but the anchor towered over him. In the distance, he could make out an old shipwreck, stranded on a sandbar. The ship looked very old, it reminded him of the ships you always saw in pirate films.

Around the next bend, he saw a bunch of washed up shipping containers. The bright orange and yellow stood out violently against the natural setting. At a pinch, they would make a decent shelter if he was desperate.

He walked closer. Something caught his eye and he inched closer to the new object of interest. There was something on a stick, pointing out of the ground. When he got a little closer, Gladio realised it was a head. A human head. There was a tennis ball stuffed into the mouth and a disposable camera jammed into a hole in the forehead. This definitely wasn’t fake, the smell of rotting meat coming off it seemed real enough.

Where the actual fuck was he?

He backed slowly away from the head, at a loss as to what to do. He looked around and spotted some more of the heads on a stick, in a rough line up the hill. “What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.” he whispered to himself continuously. This place was getting more fucked by the second.

He decided to check the shipping containers out for anything useful as fast as possible and get away from there, preferably back to where the yacht was. He could sleep on the yacht tonight and try to work out what to do in the morning.

The first few containers were empty. One just held a massive pane of glass. The next one had a few boxes on computer chips in it, there was also a shipping manifest in there. _Izunia Medical Research_ was the name of the company that the containers were being sent to. Most of the stuff on there seemed to be computer parts and medical equipment. Gladio stuffed the paper into his pocket, he would find a safer place for it later. The medical equipment wasn’t something he knew what to do with so he just decided to leave it. He herald a noise outside the container he was in. 

“Hello?” he called out. 

There was silence. 

He heard another noise, it sounded a bit like laughter. “I’m not going to hurt you.” he said loudly as he walked out the container to investigate.

A face peered around the other end of the container. It looked like a person, a really dirty and skinny person but a person nevertheless. The person laughed again, Gladio saw their teeth were very sharp looking. A lot sharper than normal human teeth. He wanted to say something, but couldn’t get the words out. He heard a noise behind him and turned and saw another person there. They were couched on all fours. They moved a little closer, moving with their hands and feet.

Gladio slowly walked backwards to get out from between both of them. He had a feeling that they didn’t want to be friends. They slowly followed him.

They alternated between walking upright and running on all fours.Gladio wasn’t sure what to do. Was it safe to run or would they chase him? Should he attack first? Would they lose interest and just leave?

One of them suddenly ran at him, knocking him down. They were surprisingly strong for their size. They jumped at him again when he was down, Gladio lifted his arm to defend himself but the person sunch their very sharp teeth into his forearm. “Get off me!” he shouted, trying to shake them free. They wouldn’t budge. 

In desperation, Gladio punches. He hit the person in the nose. He felt their bone give way beneath his fist. They let go and screeched in pain, running off over the hill. The other one followed. 

Gladio ran back towards the yacht. He didn’t even bother to strip off to jump into the water, barely taking a second to remove his shoes. His clothes weighed him down and he was exhausted by the time he reached what he considered to be safety. He lay on the deck, chest heaving, as he tried to calm down. 

It must have been one of those primitive societies that are untouched by modern society. He had seen a documentary on them years ago. He couldn’t help but feel a little bad that he had punched one of them, probably breaking their nose, but he had been attacked.

The sun eventually set, Gladio watched while eating one of the granola bars he found. He also drank a bottle of gin he had found, it probably wasn’t the best idea he had ever had but it had been one of the worst days of his life. It wasn’t everyday that the plane you were on crashed, your sister kidnapped and you were attacked by two primitive islanders.

His skin prickled when he heard screeches over the water, coming from the forest. He could make out small pinpricks of light moving across the beach, the light was orange and flickering. There were a lot of lights, he counted at least twenty, and from their faint glow he could make out silhouettes of more figures. This island clearly wasn’t as abandoned as it first appeared, but he knew from his earlier encounter that these natives were not friendly. 

Gladio climbed below deck and into the bed. He pulled the musty smelling sheets over his head, trying to fall asleep despite the worry and panic filling his heart.

He slept fitfully and when it was dawn, he ate another granola bar and gulped down a can of soda. He would have to find another source of food and water, this really wasn’t sustainable. He swam back to the shore and got redressed. He bent down to examine the prints in the sand, some of them looked oddly misshapen.

Gladio decided to go back to the shipping containers to see if he could find anything else. He was jumpy now he knew there were so many hostile people around. There were more of those grotesque totems on the shoreline. Yesterday, there was only one, but now there were four. He recognised one of the heads as a woman who sat in the aile opposite him on the flight, she had pink hair and the glasses she had been wearing were shoved into her mouth.

Gladio walked quickly past.

There was nothing else of interest in the shipping containers.

Gladio looked around as he contemplated what to do next. Should he try and hunt for food? Find some water? His eyes fell upon something over the bay, they looked like wooden houses. It was probably risky heading towards them, what if all of those natives he had seen last night were hostile too? He couldn’t help but hope that at least some would be friendlier. Or at least the village would be empty and he could help himself to some food or water.

Up close, he wasn’t even sure if they counted as houses. More like a tent of woven sticks. The front and back were open. He looked around, finding rope tied into what looked like nooses, but not much else apart from a few scattered bits of what looked like bone. Maybe the people were nomadic and didn’t leave a lot of supplies behind when they moved on? He supposed that would make sense. He did find a crudely made spear in of the structures, left abandoned on the floor. He picked it up, it felt sturdy enough and he supposed that it would be better than nothing.

A flash of bright orange caught in his peripheral vision as he exited the structure. He got closer and recognised the tents as one’s that mountain climbers used. The bright orange was good for if you were lost on a mountain and needed to call mountain rescue. You also couldn’t lose your tent in the mostly featureless landscaping. He couldn’t understand why the tents would be here though. The only mountain was in the distance, a few hours walk away at least. That was when he noticed the bright green climbing rope leading down into a cave into the ground. He wanted to call down, to see if anyone was there, but the camp looked abandoned and he didn’t want to risk getting the attention of anyone else.

Gladio saw a few bushes down on the plains below him, and decided to investigate. There could be some edible berries. He was right, one of the bushes grew clusters of blueberries. He threw a bunch into his mouth, savouring the sweetness of the berries. He lost all of his caution as he collected more berries, eating more ever so often. It wouldn’t be enough to fill him but if he supplemented it with the bars of granola, at least he would get some variation to his diet.

He was so preoccupied that he didn’t hear the first noise behind him, but he heard the screech. He spun around, holding the spear tightly in his hand. There was another islander, but this one looked different. This one was standing upright, skin a pallid grey that looked sickly but he, it was unmistakably male, was muscular and tall. In his hand he held a club, crudely made from a large rock lashed to a thick stick.

The native screeched again, Gladio decided to run. He had no idea how to fight with a spear and he hoped he could just outrun the native. His chest was heaving and his breath coming in ragged gasps as he reached the edge of the plains. He didn’t really want to run back into the forest but he hoped he would lose the native through the trees. He didn’t get that opportunity, however, as he was tackled from behind.

Now he had a naked man sitting on his chest, club held above his head ready to take a killing blow. There was a high pitched whistle and an arrow appeared in the natives head, the point poking out of his eye.

Gladio yelled, shoving the now dead islander off and standing up. He spun around wildly, trying to spot the killer.

A man walked out of the trees, a grin on his face. He seemed different from the other’s. For a start he was wearing clothes and shoes, torn and battered as they were. And he was fairly clean and had blonde hair. He was carrying a homemade bow in his hand, both of which were wrapped in slightly grubby scraps of fabric.

“Who are you?” Gladio asked, pointing the spear at him. He wasn’t taking any chances.

“That’s no way to talk to the person who just saved your life.” The man said as he walked past Gladio and towards the corpse. He knelt down and pulled the arrow out, shaking off the grey brain matter that was attached. He studied the arrow for a second and put it back into the quiver on his hip with a nonchalant shrug.

“Answer me.” Gladio demanded.

“I’m Prompto.” he answered. “And you are?”

“Gladio.” He felt a little disconcerted at how casually Prompto had just killed someone and carried on a conversation like nothing odd had happened.

“Were you on that plane?”

“Yes.”

“I saw that coming down. I’m surprised anyone survived that.”

“Is there anyone else here?” Gladio asked.

Prompto shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a pretty big island and I usually don't travel this far west.”

“I saw people on the beach. Last night.”

Prompto let out a loud laugh. His amusement at the situation was starting to piss Gladio off. “Those aren’t people. They’re barely animals.”

“I really don’t think this is very funny.”

Prompto shot him a wicked grin. “You’ve got to laugh sometimes or you’ll go crazy here.”

Think you already have, Gladio thought moodily. “Can you help me at least?”

“With what? Actually, let’s talk somewhere a little safer. Follow me.” He said before walking back in the direction that Gladio had just come from.

Gladio wanted to protest but to be honest, he had no idea where to even start and Prompto seemed to know the island so following him was his best option for now.

As Prompto was smaller than Gladio, he could move through the trees with a lot more ease and Gladio lost sight of him more than once. He didn’t know how, the trees weren’t that dense.

Before he knew it, they were out on the plains again. Prompto was bending down and picking something up from the ground. He straightened up and was holding a dead rabbit in his hand. “Killed this earlier before I had to save your ass.” he announced, answering Gladio’s unanswered question.

“Nobody made you.” Gladio grumbled. 

“Okay next time you’re about to get your skull caved in I’ll leave you alone.”

Gladio definitely would have strangled him if it wasn’t for the fact that he was probably the only person on the island who could help him find Iris.

Prompto led him through the plains. Gladio saw flurries of activity from animals in the grass and he even thought he saw another native in the tree line, watching, but they disappeared before he could even process what he saw. They were walking along the base of a cliff at the far edge of the plains before Prompto spoke again. “How good are you at climbing?”

“Okay I guess.” Gladio liked the rock wall at the sports activity center near his house well enough.

Prompto stopped in a seemingly random spot. He tucked the dead rabbit into the rope he had lashed around his waist to hold his quiver and started to climb up the cliff face. “I’ll throw down a rope for you now.”

“I can climb up too ya know.”

Prompto stopped to turn around and give him a look. “Sure you could but if you fall and break your ankle I don’t want to be looking after you for six weeks.”

He started climbing again with surprising speed. There was a terrifying half a second where Gladio thought Prompto had abandoned him but then a rope came falling down. It was hard rappelling up the cliff face, but it was probably easier than climbing. Gladio was panting and sweating by the time he reached the top.

He was greeted by a roughly made wooden structure, not dissimilar to the huts that Gladio had found earlier, but with more walls. Prompto was simultaneously tending the fire and chopping the rabbit meat into small chunks and throwing it into a pot.

“Made it at last, did you big guy?” Prompto grinned.

“Why do you live up on a cliff?” Gladio asked breathlessly.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Gladio shook his head. “Well, those bastards can’t climb. So this is the safest place on the island.”

“Can’t they just, I dunno, wait down there for you?”

Prompto scoffed, starting to throw some other things in the pot. “They haven’t got the intelligence or the patience to wait more than an hour.”

He offered Gladio some water, who was grateful to drink something that wasn’t soda for a change, before starting to chat about his day to day activities and how he built his house. “Do you know what a bitch it was to get all those bits of wood up here?”

It was fully dark by the time Prompto announced the food was cooked. Gladio’s stomach was starting to hurt, he hadn’t eaten properly in what felt like weeks and was eager to eat. Prompto filled up an old soup can with the stew he had made and handed it to Gladio. “It’s hot so be careful.” he said as he handed Gladio a plastic spoon too.

“You sure do have a lot of stuff here.” Gladio pointed out as he scooped up some of the food and waited for it to cool down.

Prompto sat on the other side of the fire, holding a can and a plastic spoon of his own. “I’ve been here for a while.” he said with a shrug. “A lot of stuff washes up on the beaches. You’d be surprised what the ocean can carry.”

Gladio went silent after eating the first spoonful. The stew was surprisingly tasty. And Gladio realised how hungry he actually was as he bolted down the food, throwing all caution out the window as he burned his mouth a little from the hot liquid.

When he was done, he felt comfortable. His stomach was warm and full. Prompto looked at him with amusement in his eyes, as per usual. “You should let me look at that cut on your face.” Prompto said as he stood up and walked over.

To be honest, Gladio had forgotten about it. It didn’t hurt that much. Or he thought it didn’t until Prompto poked it gently with a finger. Gladio hissed in pain. “It was fine until you did that!”

“I don’t think it's infected or anything.” Prompto said, ignoring Gladio’s complaining. “You’re lucky you didn’t lose your eye.”

“Can we talk now?” Gladio asked.

“We are talking.” Prompto replied dryly, ignoring Gladio’s wincing as he dabbed the half healed cut on his face with some sort of antiseptic lotion that he had in a bottle.

“Look, the last thing I need right now is you being a smartass. My sister was taken by some bastard and I need to find her.”

“Well if a native took her she’s been eaten.”

“Geez, thanks for the reassurance.” Gladio said sarcastically. “I don’t think it was a native, not like the ones who attacked me anyway.”

Prompto looked slightly interested. “Describe him.”

“My head was feeling pretty fucked from the crash, but I think he was tallish, had red hair. He was wearing clothes but like his exposed skin was a weird colour, like he had rubbed red paint on himself.” Recognition flashed across Prompto’s face. “Do you know him?”

Prompto was silent for a long moment, Gladio was sure he wasn’t going to answer him, but he did. “I’ve seen him around.”

“Do you know where he is?” Gladio made a frustrated noise at Prompto’s lack of response. “Look, my little sister has been taken by him, I need to find her!”

Prompto’s face hardened. “Look dude, there’s some things on this island you don’t mess with and he’s one of them.” he said sharply.

“I’m not just leaving her.” Gladio growled. 

“That’s how you get yourself killed.”

“Well then I die.”

“You really are a self righteous ass aren’t you?” Prompto laughed darkly. He was silent for a few long minutes then sighed loudly. “Fuck it, I’ll help you find your sister.”

“Really?” Gladio asked brightly.

“I’ve been working on a plan to get out of here for a while and I’m sure that your little friend is where I need to go.”

“A plan?”

Prompto nodded. “I’ve been here for a while, plenty of people have come here and gone down into the caves and haven’t come out again.” Prompto pushed his shaggy hair off his face before continuing. “People with a lot of equipment.”

“Where do we start?”

Prompto stood and pointed. “Just a little north of here is the main village, where the natives perform most of their rituals. There’s an entrance into a large underground cave system, I saw a group of people go down there with some equipment which could be useful.”

“Why are people coming here?” Gladio questioned. He wanted to know how and why Prompto was there, but he knew the man would avoid his question and he had only just gotten him to agree to help him.

Prompto shrugged. “It’s not like I go and ask them.”

“Why did you help me?”

Prompto ignored him and lay down next to the fire, back to Gladio. “We better go to sleep if we’re gonna head out tomorrow.”

Gladio stared at him for a moment, then decided to lie down too. He eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

He was woken by the sun peeking over the edge of the trees. He blinked a few times to try and get his surroundings. Prompto was sitting on the edge of the cliff, looking out into the forest they were heading into. Gladio slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“There’s some food in the pot over the fire, help yourself.” Prompto said, not turning around.

Gladio peered into the pot and saw some of the stew leftover from the night before. He grabbed a spoon and decided to just eat it straight from the pot. It was still warm from when Prompto had reheated it to feed himself. Gladio sat down next to Prompto on the cliff edge, who was methodically fletching arrows and tucking them into his quiver. 

“Sleep well?” Gladio asked politely.

Prompto grunted. They stayed in silence until Gladio had finished eating. “You ready?”

“Do we need some supplies?”

“I put some spare water and a bit of food in your backpack.” Prompto said shortly, standing up and stretching.

Gladio quietly shrugged on his backpack and picked up the spear he had grabbed the day before. Prompto looked at him critically. “Do you even know how to use that?”

“Just poke them with the pointy end?” Gladio answered vaguely.

Prompto laughed. “That’s the jist of it.”

He let Gladio climb down the rope before he pulled it back up and climbed down the rockface. Gladio watched more carefully this time, making note of where Prompto put his hands and feet. When he reached the bottom, he dusted his hands off.

“Follow me and keep your eyes open.” Prompto instructed quietly, making his way top the trees.

They had to cross through a shallow stream, Gladio was grateful that he had decided to wear his hiking boots on the plane more and more everyday. He wouldn’t have done it if Iris hadn’t planned for a day of sightseeing when they had arrived to Altissa. He let himself wallow in sadness for a moment as he thought of his little sister, who was probably terrified on the island somewhere right now.

The walk to this camp wasn’t even long, barely a hundred meters into the trees. 

He had no idea why Prompto would want to live so close to what he assumed would be a hotspot of activity.

Prompto walked slowly between the imposing buildings, eyes scanning frantically for signs of movement. Gladio could hear the buzzing of flies from inside one of the huts, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and decay. Gladio shuddered and gripped his spear a little tighter.

They reached a hole in the ground, the entrance barely concealed by a rock overhang. A sturdy, bright green climbing rope descended into the gloom.Prompto went down first and Gladio followed after a few moments. He immediately noticed how cool and damp it was in the cave. The smell of rot was also present in the cave. Gladio reached the bottom of the rope and turned. Hanging from the ceiling on the same green ropes where people.

Some of the bodies looked fresher, and Gladio was sure he recognised one of them from the plane, but a few were nearly unrecognisable as people through the decay. He saw a flash of bright light and spotted Prompto, crouching down next to a completely decomposed body, leaving just a skeleton. Next to the corpse, was a backpack. He rifled through it for a moment, pulling out an old fashioned compass and a tattered map. He studied it for a second before stuffing it in his pocket. Gladio looked at him questioningly as he put the backpack on. 

“The backpack will come in useful.” Prompto said quietly. “And the map was an orienteering one, showing all the cave systems on the island. This guy was obviously a lot more skilled at avoiding the natives than I originally thought.”

“I wonder what happened to all these people.” Gladio asked softly.

Prompto shrugged. “The natives kill people.”

Gladio wanted to argue with him about his nonchalant attitude but Prompto had already moved on and he had to follow. Prompto had the only light source after all.

A soft laugh echoed through the cave, making them both freeze. Prompto quickly turned off the torch. It was pitch black. Gladio strained his ears, trying to listen for the sound of footsteps, of anything in the darkness apart from his own frantic breathing and the steady drip of water.

The laugh came again, slightly closer, joined by a second one.

Gladio didn’t hear Prompto string his bow, but he did hear the whistle of the arrow through the still air and the wet thunk as it sank into the natives skin. 

There was an inhuman shriek as the creature's companion ran at them. Prompto swore and flicked the torch on just as the native jumped through the air at them. Gladio barely registered what he was doing as he thrust the spear forward, catching the native in the throat. They left out a wet gargle and collapsed to the floor, blood pouring from the wound in its throat.

Gladio was shocked for a moment.

He had killed someone.

He was a murderer.

He tried to think about what Prompto had said, that they were barely human, but he couldn’t stop the guilt gnawing at him.

“Good job.” Prompto said, stepping over the still twitching body to retrieve his arrow from the other one.

His nonchalance at the situation still aggravated Gladio, but he decided to just leave it. He had no idea how long Prompto had been here so he felt like he couldn’t judge the other man’s behaviour, but something was bugging him. The ritual was a repeat of the day before, shaking off the clinging flesh and shrugging before putting the arrow back into his quiver.

They walked through narrow tunnels until they reached a wider cave, the floor was covered in about two inches of water. They could hear splashing footsteps in the water from the other side. Again, Prompto turned off the torch and Gladio heard an arrow loose and the tell tale sound of it hitting its mark. They stayed quiet for a moment but there was no other noise so Prompto turned the torch back on.

Gladio realised what was bugging him then. With the torch off, the cave was pitch black. Gladio wouldn’t have been able to see his hand in front of his face. So how was Prompto hitting perfect headshots every time?

He decided he would ask Prompto about it when they got back to base.

“Check the chamber, see if there’s anything useful.” Prompto instructed quietly. “And keep your spear close, you don’t want to be caught off guard.”

There didn’t seem to be anything useful. The floor was littered with rotting wood and pieces of what Gladio suspected was human bone. He turned, to tell Prompto he hadn’t found anything useful when he spotted light, warm and orange, like a fire.

“Prom, look.” he whispered, pointing at what he had spotted.

Prompto’s eyes widened momentarily, probably at the use of the nickname, but nodded and walked towards the light. Gladio followed. There was another rope leading deeper into the cave. They climbed down again.

When they reached the bottom, Gladio blew on his stinging hands. He would have to also make similar hand wraps to Prompto. This section of the cave was brightly lit with burning candles. It made Gladio feel uneasy. Who had lit these candles? 

The cave was also completely filled with cardboard boxes and wooden crates.

They both wordlessly started searching.

Prompto made a delighted sound when he found a few stacks of explosives in one of the crates. Gladio had no idea how it would come in useful but he was sure it would. He stuffed some energy bars and cans of soda he found into his backpack, they did make good emergency food after all. There were also a bunch of papers scattered around, Gladio picked up one which caught his eye, an autopsy report. He had no idea how an autopsy report would find its way into this cave but started to read. A lot of the ink was smudged and unreadable, but the bits he could read said a woman had been stabbed at least twenty times, and strangled. The diagram showing the placement of her injuries made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He also stuffed this into his backpack, he didn’t know why.

“Look at this.” Prompto murmured, he held up a paintbrush, the bristles stained red. There was a large tin of red paint next to him, half empty.

“The guy who took Iris was painted red.” Gladio said softly.

Prompto considered the brush for a moment. “I think the natives are scared of the colour. I bet he did something so he can move around the island more freely.”

“Should we… take it?” Gladio asked.

Prompto rummaged around for a second before finding the lid. “Yeah we probably should.”

Gladio wordlessly took the tin. It was still pretty heavy and Prompto was a scrawny thing. He glared at Gladio momentarily before looking around for more stuff. He found an axe, black and shiny. He also found some arrows, made for a compact hunting bow if Gladio was to guess.

“If these arrows are here, that means someone must have a better bow somewhere.” Prompto muttered to himself. He nodded once before adding the arrows to his quiver, which was completely full now. He then put the axe into his newly acquired backpack, the head poking out of the top.

There was nothing else useful in the chamber so they headed back up the rope. It wasn’t easy climbing up with the paint can hanging off his elbow but he wasn’t going to complain.

When Gladio reached the top, Prompto was waiting and studying the map. He shoved it back into his pocket and walked to the other side of the chamber. Gladio followed. He didn’t know why, but he trusted Prompto’s judgment when it came to navigating.

He led them through a narrow corridor, so tight that Gladio could barely breathe, it got lighter and lighter and then suddenly they were outside. Gladio blinked a few times for his eyes to get used to the bright sun.

They were in the forest now, in a completely different spot then where they went in. Prompto looked around for a moment, frowning, then looked up at the sky for a second before starting to walk. Gladio followed him again.

"How do you know where we are?" Gladio asked after a few minutes of trudging through the low lying undergrowth. To him, everywhere seemed the same.

"Well the camp is in the east so if we keep going east we'll either get to the camp or the sea."

Prompto’s directions were true and before the sun had reached its midday peak they were back at camp. Gladio immediately lay down when they completed the climb back up the cliff. He was surprisingly exhausted after the day's efforts. Prompto had immediately unpacked his backpack which he had taken off the dead explorer in the cave and opened the map, studying it closely.

He sat on the floor, mumbling to himself softly as he followed lines on the map with his right forefinger. Gladio watched him, making note of the freckles that stood out stark on his pale skin and the numerous scars that adorned his body. He closed the map, putting it back in his pocket.

“I know where we’re going tomorrow. Try and get some rest.”

“Wouldn't it just be better to go now?” Gladio asked, sitting up. He wanted to get off this island as soon as possible.

“You’re exhausted.”

Gladio huffed. “I’m okay.”

“We’re waiting until tomorrow.”

\---

The second cave Prompto decided that they should explore wasn’t even that far away from the camp. It only took an hour to walk there. Gladio was determined to show Prompto he was just as tough as him so vowed to not show how exhausted he was.

This entrance was narrower and well hidden between rocks. This rope was resting against a cave all so it was easier to climb down than in the first cave.

Gladio turned on his torch and immediately saw a flash of white. He walked quickly over, ignoring Prompto’s hisses to be quiet, and bent down and picked up the object. It was Iris’s moogle toy, the one she had been holding when the man took her. He put it into his backpack, she would want it back when they found her. They started to climb another rope before an unnatural roar echoed through the cave.

Prompto looked down, pressing his fingers to his lips and heaved himself over the ledge. Gladio did the same. Prompto pointed to what had made the sound.

It was something Gladio had never seen the likes of in his life.

The creature had skin which could have been called human, six arms, oddly deformed legs, backward feet and a tentacle-like limb. It did not appear to have a head or any recognizable facial features, but there was some sort of slit on one side of it, possibly the front. It bellowed again, moving around in a seemingly random pattern, waving its many arms in the air.

Prompto indicated for him to keep low and quiet and led him down a tunnel to the left. After a few minutes, they couldn’t hear the creatures thundering footsteps anymore and the tunnel opened up to a larger cave. At the far end, there were the remains of a camp. A few tents, a patch of black ash where the fire used to be and a bunch of crates that used to contain supplies. 

Gladio barely noticed the man with his chest impaled by a wickedly sharp looking sword, still reeling from the creature he had seen just a few moments ago. The man had barely started decompsong, was he from the flight that Gladio was on?

Prompto yanked the sword out of the man's chest with a sickening noise and went to hand it to Gladio.

“I don’t know how to use a sword!” Gladio hissed.

“It’s basically the same as the spear.” Prompto hissed back.

Gladio took the weapon to get Prompto to stop staring at him and Prompto went back to rummaging through the camp for supplies. Gladio didn't like the weight of the sword in his hands, or the dried blood and gore that encrusted the blade and handle.

They tried to sneak back out the cave the same way but the monster they had seen earlier was closer to the front of the cave it was wandering around in, and it heard then when Prompto started to make his way down the rope. 

Its body shot around and it started to run, the opening at the front gaping as it let out a massive bellow of rage. Gladio didn’t even wait for Prompto to give him the clear, he just lowered himself from the ledge and fell ten or so feet onto the cave floor. He managed to keep his footing, only because he was so tall, but his knees and ankles ached from the impact. Prompto was halfway up the second rope before Gladio even started climbing. He was hoping the creature would have been deterred from the fall, but it had followed and was getting up from the floor. The entire cave shook as it slammed into the wall behind the rope. Loose stone fell from the ceiling and Gladio was genuinely concerned that the cave would collapse.

Then they were out, in the sunlight. They could still hear the creatures bellows of rage echoing from the cave.

“Get back.” Prompto said calmly as he pulled a stick of dynamite from his backpack, lit it with a lighter from his pocket and dropped it into the hole.

Gladio swore and backed up quickly. The explosion was quieter than he would have expected, but the collapse of the cave was loud. The creature inside went silent presumably in a thousand pieces or crushed.

“What the fuck was that thing?” Gladio demanded.

“I call it an armsy, ya know, because of all the arms.” Prompto said dryly, starting to walk to their next destination. 

Gladio wasn’t having it. He grabbed the smaller man by the arm. “Prompto, tell me!”

“Do I look like a fucking scientist to you?” he snapped, yanking his arm out og Gladio’s grip. “All I know is that there’s a lab on the island and they were making genetic war weapons and they all escaped.”

Gladio knew the other man knew more than he was letting on but let it drop.

Prompto wanted to go back to the site of the plane crash, he said there was a promising cave near it and he wanted to see if there was anything useful left in the crashed aircraft. Gladio tried to tell him he had taken all of the useful supplies but Prompto just made an expression that said he didn’t believe him and started walking back through the forest.

It took most of the day to walk back to the site and by the time they got there, they only had a few hours of daylight left. Gladio boosted Prompto inside and kept a lookout, peering through the trees for any signs of the natives or the monsters that impossibly roamed around. He glanced back when he heard a wet cracking sound and saw Prompto yanking the axe out of the air hostesses chest.

“What are you doing!?”

“She doesn’t need it, she’s dead.” Prompto replied bluntly, dropping out of the plane.

“You’re so fucking heartless. Show some respect.”

Prompto spun around, eyes flashing with anger. “I’ve been on my own for ten fucking years. Sorry if my manners aren’t up to your standards. You need to be realistic if you want to save your sister. Toughen up.” he said, poking Gladio in the chest.

Gladio was stunned. Ten years? He was also a little scared, Prompto was a pretty scary guy. Also, a little turned on, but he blamed that on the very stressful few days he had and the fact he was a little pent up before even getting on the plane.

“You’re right.” Gladio said softly.

“I know I am.” Prompto snorted. “C’mon, follow me.”

The next cave was very close to where the plane crashed, and it was near the beach. Gladio wasn't sure how he missed it when he was first in the area, but being in a plane crash does leave one feeling a little disoriented. Rather than a rope going down, they had to squeeze into a narrow opening, and then travel down a rope. Prompto was down first, as usual, and as Gladio was coming down, he heard the unmistakable sound of Prompto’s bow firing and the meaty thud of targets being hit. When he reached the bottom Prompto was plucking arrows out of a natives head. He only acknowledged Gladio by checking he was still behind him and they ventured deeper into the cave.

The cave was eerily quiet. There was only a single native at the entrance. Then they found out why.

In one of the larger caverns they found a very odd sight.

There was a group of bodies, both normal people and natives to the island, kneeling as in prayer facing a crude charcoal drawing of an obelisk of some sort daubed on the wall of the cave. All the bodies were mummified from the elements in the cave, but it seemed they had all died in the position they were in. Prompto nudged the closest one with the toe of his battered boot, they rocked slightly but ultimately didn't move. When his shoe had touched their skin, there was a sound like rustling paper.

They shone their torches around and spotted large white shapes. They were tents, old fashioned. Scattered around where some books, dry and cracking with age and damp. Gladio managed to peel one open and saw it was a Bible. The front page stated it was printed in 1902. He picked up another, which was the same. In one of the tents, Prompto found a small wooden crucifix, half rotten.

"I think they were missionaries." Gladio said. "But it looks like they were here over a hundred years ago."

Prompto was starting to look worried which was something that Gladio didn't like one bit.

"I think we should move on." Prompto said before walking quickly on. Gladio lightly jogged to catch up, picking up a rusted axe that was leaning against one of the tents as he hurried past.

"Hey Prom, what's wrong?" He asked when he caught up with the smaller man.

"I thought everyone on this island was from the lab, but if they've been there for a hundred years that means they aren't. There's something else going on here and I don't like it." He explained as he walked.

That thought made Gladio feel uneasy too. There was something very strange going on.

A little deeper in, they found a group of what seemed to be cave divers, bodies rotted to skeletons but still wearing their equipment. A few of them had rusted to uselessness but most were fully functional, or looked it at least. Prompto found the two that looked in the best working order and handed one over to Gladio. He was unsure; it didn't seem safe to be using this equipment without training, and there was also the fact that it had been there for who knows how long, but Prompto didn’t seem bothered and had already dove under the water.

Gladio immediately hated being under the water, it was murky and he could barely see his hand in front of his face. Pieces of underwater debris stuck to the visor of the mask making visibility even more difficult. He followed Prompto, trusting his extensive knowledge of the map, only knowing where the other man was by the faint pinprick of light from the torch attached to the diving suit.

Luckily, the underwater tunnel gently sloped upwards until they broke the surface. This cave was even stranger than the one with the tents. It was filled with half decomposed bodies, all wearing expensive looking suits.

Prompto looked around, a wild look in his eyes. "This isn't supposed to be here!"

"It's fine." Gladio said. "We can just go back the way we came."

Prompto shot him a furious look and he fell silent. He started looking at the map again, muttering to himself. Gladio decided to keep busy and look around.

There were a few briefcases dotted around. They were all unlocked, luckily. Most just contained paperwork, impossible to read as it had been soaked in blood when the men had been killed. One thing caught his interest though, a video camera. He picked it up and looked at it for damage, the lens was cracked but the LCD screen seemed undamaged. There also was a tape inside.

Gladio pressed the on button and the screen flashed to life. He then pressed play. He wanted to see what these people were recording before they were killed. The movement was a little shaky at first then zoomed in on a group of people surrounding a bed. Most were clearly doctors, then the crowd shifted and Gladio caught sight of a child lying in the bed. A child who was pale, skinny and had light blonde hair. This child was Prompto.

He hurriedly turned off the camera and put it in his backpack. He would ask Prompto about it later. 

“Follow me.” Prompto said, suddenly snapping Gladio out of his thoughts. “What are you doing?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Gladio suspiciously.

“Having a drink.”

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

They squeezed through another narrow passage, the walls here were rough and scraped Gladio’s skin.The next cave was one of the smaller ones but it was big enough for Gladio to stand comfortably, and someone had used it as a camp in the past. There was an old, musty sleeping bag shoved against a wall.

“Wait here.” 

Gladio did as Prompto said. He walked off, turning a corner.. A few moments later, he had returned.

“It's dark out, we better stay here for the night.” Prompto said, shrugging his backpack and diving equipment off. Gladio copied and sat on the floor, which was pretty cold now he thought about it.

When Prompto sat down next to him, Gladio noticed he was shivering. If he was cold, it was no wonder. Their clothes were pretty wet still from the dive and Prompto’s shirt had the sleeves ripped off it.

“Should we take off our clothes?” Gladio suggested. Prompto looked at him. “Like they’re wet. We don’t want to get ill.”

“Yeah you’re probably right.”

Gladio tried to not stare as Prompto undressed, he really did, but as soon as his shirt was half way off it was over. His body was lean and hard from living in this forest, dotted with various scars. Gladio could make out a couple of sashes and one which looked like a bite. Prompto caught him staring and blushed, pulling his shirt back down. “What?”

Gladio apologized, also blushing.

Great, now he had made it awkward.

They both hurriedly undressed to their underwear and Gladio dragged the sleeping bag over, opening it up.

“C’mon we better lie on this.”

“It's pretty small.” Prompto pointed out.

“It’s probably better we’re closer together, for warmth.”

They lay down side by side, Prompto turned off his torch, leaving them in darkness. Gladio heard the fabric of the sleeping bag rustling, then felt Prompto’s cold body pressed against his. He wrapped an arm around him to pull him close. Eventually, they both fell asleep.

When they awoke, their clothes were still a little damp but would dry off in the sun quickly enough. They dressed by torchlight and then Gladio spotted something. It was where the sleeping bag had been the night before but the dark colour of it made Gladio miss it when it was darker. It was a long case. Gladio knelt down and opened it. It held a bow. Modern and compact. There were also a few arrows in there. 

“Hey Prom, look what I found.”

Prompto was very pleased by the discovery. He left his old bow there after testing the new one out by pulling the string. “This should be good.”

When they left the cave and started to walk, Gladio decided to confront Prompto about the video. It wasn’t like they were going to be doing anything but walking for a while at least.

He pulled out the video camera and handed it over. “Look what i found in the cave.”

Prompto’s face paled significantly as he watched a brief second of the footage. He was quiet for a long moment. “I suppose you want to know.”

“Yeah.”

\---

_Prompto was exhausted as he lent against his father in the helicopter. At first, the sound of the whirling blades and the sea zooming away beneath them excited him beyond his exhaustion but it would catch up with him eventually. Now, his head spun and he felt dizzy. His father wrapped an arm around him. “Don’t worry son, I’ve got you.” he whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his head._

_He closed his eyes and remembered how it all started. His mother had died suddenly, she had a seizure at the top of the stairs and had fallen and broken her neck. At first, people assumed the changes in Prompto’s behaviour was down to grief, and his dad even let the drop in his school grades slip. But then they finished the autopsy and found out why she had the seizure._

_She had Huntington’s Disease. A genetic condition._

_That was when Verstael Besithia started to panic._

_He immediately took his only son, the only part of his wife he had remaining, to the doctor. What if his son had it?_

_It turned out he did. The stress of losing his mother had accelerated the condition. He was certainly going to die._

_Verstael couldn’t handle the thought of losing his son. He spent all of his money travelling around the world to get every experimental treatment going, but he still rapidly declined. He had spent all his money and energy before giving up. Then a man he used to work with, Ardyn Izunia, told him about a new experiment he was running. One that altered DNA and might be able to save his son._

_So that’s how they ended up in the helicopter, flying out to some island._

_Prompto didn’t remember landing or getting into the lab. He had vague memories of his dad saying he loved him before he was wheeled away. Then he remembered a horrible, burning pain throughout his whole body and then nothing. When he next awoke, he wasn’t in pain anymore._

_His head felt fine._

_He didn’t feel dizzy or confused._

_His hands had stopped their constant shaking._

_Verstael came back in, smiling. “It was a success. You’re cured.”_

_Prompto wanted to be relieved, but he just couldn’t. He felt… wrong. He couldn’t explain it. And he didn’t like the lab. But his dad had some important work to do to repay Ardyn for saving his son and Ardyn wanted to keep Prompto there for a little longer, for observation._

_It was pretty boring until Ardyn’s nephew, Noctis, had come to the lab too. Noctis had been in a terrible car accident and his spine was badly damaged. He couldn’t walk. Ardyn thought he could fix him._

_Prompto liked Noctis a lot. They had a lot in common and they were allowed to stay in the same room. It was like having a sleepover every night._

_More children came but Noctis and Prompto stuck together._

_Noctis went for treatment several times but nothing seemed to change. Ardyn took blood from Prompto, took x-rays and scans. He couldn’t understand why it wouldn’t work on Noctis._

_He kept going back in but it didn’t seem to work._

_Then one day there was some sort of commotion. Prompto wanted to know what was happening but he didn’t want to leave Noctis’s bedside. The last batch of treatment had made him feel extremely unwell. Then the screams started._

_Prompto dragged Noctis’s wheelchair over and managed to get his friend inside. When they reached the hallway, he saw what people were screaming about._

_There was a monster._

_It had six legs, claw-like feet, six small arms but looked like it used to be human. Its skin looked human enough. It also had a head, but it was smooth and featureless. It reared up on two of its legs and brought the others down, crushing the woman in front of it and sending a spray of blood and gore up the pristine walls._

_Prompto froze._

_Then the creature started to move toward them, its claws skittering on the floor._

_“Prompto run!” Noctis shouted, snapping his friend from his shock._

_He turned and ran, pushing Noctis in front of him._

_The creature was struggling to fit through the door, it was too big, but every slam of its body dented the frame and wall. It was only a matter of time before it got through. Prompto looked wildly around for somewhere to run but couldn’t see anything._

_Noctis grabbed his hand._

_“Prom you have to crawl out through the air ducts.” he said._

_“No I’m not leaving you here.” Prompto replied stubbornly._

_“You’ve got to. No sense in both of us dying.”_

_The metal screeched and groaned._

_Noctis wheeled over to one of the lab tables and gathered up some stuff._

_“Noct, what are you doing? C’mon I can get us both out!”_

_“Bye Prom. You were the best friend I ever had.” Noctis said softly before lighting one of the chemicals alight and quickly wheeling towards the creature. Prompto wanted to stop him, to cry out but the words caught in his throat._

_He felt the explosion more than heard it._

_When he opened his eyes again, the whole corridor was filled with rubble, the overhead lights sparking and flickering. Prompto choked back a sob as he caught sight of his best friend’s mangled arm sticking out of a pile of debris, then got down and crawled through the narrow air duct._

\---

By the time the story was finished, they were back at camp. Gladio held Prompto as he sobbed until darkness settled over the island. When he went still, Prompto shuffled out of his lap and sat by the cliff edge, seemingly embarrassed by his emotions.

Gladio decided to leave him for a bit, to gather his thoughts. He methodically started a fire, he had watched Prompto do it plenty of times, so he knew what to do.

When the flame was burning merrily and the cracking of burning wood filled the night, Prompto made his way back over and sat next to Gladio. Gladio put his arm around the smaller man's shoulders and pulled him close. 

“It wasn’t your fault ya know, that he died.” He said gently.

“I know that.” He said sharply. “But he still died, and I lived.”

They were silent for a moment longer, then Prompto did something that surprised Gladio to no end.

He kissed him.

It was sudden and desperate. 

Gladio responded in kind. 

He pulled Prompto into his lap and they messily kissed, hands roaming carelessly over each others bodies. Prompto grabbed Gladio by his hair and roughly pulled his head back, Gladio groaned as he bit his neck, hard. Gladio’s mind was chanting at him that it was a bad idea but he couldn’t stop. He fumbled with Prompto’s trousers and put his hand inside, grabbing his hard cock in his hand and roughly stroking it. 

He came on the third stroke, biting down on Gladio’s neck again and he shuddered in his grip. Gladio didn’t know when it had happened but his pants were filled with his own release.

Gladio wiped his dirty hand on the ground next to them as Prompto panted into his neck, still shivering slightly.

After what felt like forever, he spoke.

“Tomorrow, we’ll go and find your sister.”

Gladio kissed his temple softly. “Thank you.”

\---

The walk to where the lab was located wasn’t even far.

The sinkhole was massive. Gladio couldn’t even comprehend the size of it. Prompto pointed down. Gladio squinted but wasn’t able to make anything out. “The entrance is down there.”

“How do we get down?”

“Caves.”

Their journey felt like every other one they had, fighting a few natives and squeezing through narrow crevices. When Prompto shot the first one Gladio immediately noticed the difference in power in the new bow, the head of the arrow was poking out the back of the natives head.

They didn’t really speak as they moved through the system. They both trusted each other implicitly now. They climbed down more ropes and struggled to stay upright on wet stone that sloped downwards but eventually they reached the bottom of the cave and the entrance to the floor of the sinkhole. There was a roar of something the other side of the crevice, slightly larger than the others. There was also a thundering footstep that shook the ground slightly.

They looked at eachother.

Prompto grabbed the collar of Gladio’s shirt and pulled him down, kissing him again. “Thank you.” Prompto said softly, the gentlest Gladio had heard him.

“Don’t say that, it’s like you think one of us is gonna die.”

Prompto smiled wryly, his usual attitude back. “You never know big guy, you can’t get too comfortable with living.”

Gladio lent down and kissed him again. “Your attitude infuriates me, and somehow turns me on at the same time.”

Prompto laughed and pulled away, slapping Gladio on the ass as he did. Gladio laughed too, forgetting in the moment that one of them was possibly going to die.

“Let’s go and save your baby sister.”

Gladio pushed past to be out first this time. There was obviously something big the other side of the crevice and he would be able to hold it back for Prompto to get out if it was needed.

It was midday so the sun was directly above, filling the entire hole with bright sunlight. Gladio blinked a few times, holding the handle of the katana tightly. It was also incredibly warm down there too. The surrounding rock had been warming in the sun and there was a slight heat haze over the whole area. 

He heard movement behind him as Prompto followed him out, readying his bow. Prompto took the lead now. They had barely gone ten feet before a bellow of what sounded like rage echoed around. The floor started to shake and something came from around the corner.

It was huge. Taller than Gladio by about two foot and weighed probably a few tonnes from the way the ground shook as it ran. Its skin was roughly the same texture as a humans, but it’s face was all wrong. It looked like it hadn’t developed properly.

Gladio barely had time to absorb this fact when something jumped over the pile of rocks just before them. It was the creature from the photo. It was worse in real life, the picture didn’t capture the way its limbs moved so unnaturally as it walked. It’s limbs were powerful too he noted in mild shock as it bounded from the top of the rock pile and straight towards them.

It’s movement was halted for half a second by an arrow hitting it in the torso. It hissed in rage and doubled its speed.

Gladio swore as he jumped to the side, scraping his arm on the rough, hot ground as the massive creature ran past him, barely missing. He felt the weight of the creature beside him as it rushed passed. He swung the katana at the back of its legs purely on instinct, hitting the right leg with a meaty thump. The tendon snapped with a sound like a gunshot and Gladio thanked every God he could think of that the creature was human enough to collapse onto its left leg, the right one flopping uselessly. 

It turned to face him, its small, piggish eyes narrowing with hatred and rage. It tried to reach towards him with its stumpy arms but just fell forward. Gladio thrust the sword towards the creature's head and it sunk into the flesh barely a millimeter before it hit the creature's thick skull and stopped dead.

He swore again and yanked the weapon away quickly before it could do anything else and glanced up to see what Prompto was doing. He was glad he did because the other creature was running towards him, seemingly enraged by the multiple arrows sticking out of its body.

He tried to jump to the side like he did with the other creature but this one was cleverer, and more nimble. It swung one of its many legs out to the side, the limb was pure muscle and completely solid, and hit Gladio in the stomach. He collapsed to the floor, completely winded. The creature reared up on two legs, ready to deliver a crushing blow when it was hit with two more arrows in quick succession. It spun around, forgetting about Gladio completely to go back to its other attacker.

Through the tangle of flailing limbs, Gladio caught a glance of Prompto. He was leaning on a rock, blood streaming from his face and holding the bow in shaking hands.

Gladio’s chest filled with panic, he forced himself upwards and thrust forward. It always seemed easy to stab someone or something in TV and film, but it wasn’t easy. The flesh and muscle didn’t give like you thought they should. The sound was sickening as the sharp blade sank deeper and deeper into the creature. Gladio screamed, with anger or determination he didn’t know, and stepped forward again, driving the blade even deeper. He didn’t notice the creatures screeching until it stopped and went silent.

Or as silent as it could be with the other creature flopping helplessly on the floor, unable to lift its bulky body up with its tiny arms.

Gladio pulled his sword out and ran over to Prompto, who was still leaning heavily on the rock.

“Shit, Prom, are you okay?”

He smiled, mouth filled with blood and gave Gladio a mocking salute. “Just peachy. Think that bastard broke my ankle though.”

“Your face is bleeding too.” Gladio said, wiping the blood with a piece of cloth he tore off his shirt. The cut was on his nose and seemed deep. It would leave a scar.

“Yeah I kinda face planted the floor when she snapped my ankle.” 

“C’mon, let’s get out of here.” Gladio said.

Prompto grabbed him by the shirt collar again and kissed him, hard. His mouth tasted of the blood that filled it. He then pushed Gladio back. “What part of my ankle is broken don’t you get? I’ll only slow you down. Leave me here.”

“No fucking way. We’re going together even if I have to carry you.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

Gladio ignored him and squatted down in front. “C’mon, hop on.”

“Gladio you can’t fight with me clinging on your back.”

“You’ll have to keep an eye out and use that bow of yours.” Prompto gave him a look. “Knights used to fire from horseback all the time, am I that different from a horse?”

Prompto rolled his eyes but hopped over. He was surprisingly heavy, full of muscle he was, and Gladio could feel his strong thighs flexing under his grip.

“What way?” Gladio asked.

“Go around the rock, there should be a entrance.”

Gladio did as he instructed and there was an entrance, a heavy metal door, but the thing that immediately caught his interest was the wreckage of a helicopter.

He jogged over to it, to see if there was anything useful.

On the wall was a bright green first aid kit, seemingly unopened. He sat Prompto down on a nearby flatish rock and climbed in to grab it. The rusted metal was hot to the touch and creaked ominously under his weight. The pilot was also still in his seat, now a skeleton.

Gladio yanked the first aid kit off the wall and had a look inside. It was fully stocked.

He knelt in front of Prompto and pulled bandages out. “C’mon we better get your ankle wrapped up.”

“We can do this later.” Prompto said. 

Gladio ignored him. “Brace yourself, it’s gonna hurt when I take off your shoe. We haven’t got anything to cut it off with.”

Prompto nodded once and grabbed onto Gladio’s shoulder for support. His fingers dug in painfully as Gladio slowly eased the shoe off. He let out a small whimper but apart from that he didn't make a sound. Luckily, the break didn’t look too bad, Gladio had definitely seen worse breaks. The ankle was oddly misshapen and was already swollen and bruised. Gladio wrapped the bandage around it as tightly as he could. It should hold the bone in place as the injury healed.

Gladio handed Prompto some of the painkillers from the first aid kit but he refused. “I need my head clear.”

He pocketed them instead. He would force Prompto to take them later, after Iris was safe.

Prompto eased his shoe back on. Gladio knelt down to let Prompto climb back on his back, and then they were heading to the huge, metal door. Gladio pushed the door hard, expecting to hear the creak of rusted hinges but the door opened silently. It was dark for half a second, then the LED lights overhead flickered to life with a buzzing sound.

The corridor was long and empty, the walls metal and covered with a chipped white paint. There was a trail of dark footsteps. Gladio thought it might have been blood, but the footsteps looked human. The light didn’t seem to fill the corridor correctly and Gladio could feel Prompto stiffen and ready the grip on his bow.

The footsteps lead to another door. It was metal with a thick, glass porthole. Gladio tried to peer through it but the glass was covered in a spiderweb of cracks..

The door opened with a gentle push of his foot.

The next room seemed like some sort of canteen. It was eerily empty. Plates filled with rotten food were at nearly every seat, like the place had been quickly abandoned. Where a door used to be at the other end of the room was now replaced with a huge hole, the edges of which were tinged in the rusty colour of old blood. 

“Where do we go?” Gladio asked softly, even though he knew they had to go through the hole.

Prompto confirmed his worry and he slowly walked over.

It was another corridor but this one looked like a war had been fought in it. The walls were dotted with bullet holes and indents from a hard impact. The floor was littered with scattered bones. The lights overhead flickered and sparked.

At the end was a pile of rubble. Gladio instinctively knew that was where Noctis had died saving Prompto. He didn’t say anything though. Either did Prompto.

Prompto directed him to the third door on the left. This door was incredibly thick and heavy, it was a real struggle for Gladio to open, so much so he had to put Prompto down to do it.

Gladio put his arm around Prompto’s waist and helped him cross the threshold. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting from the room, but it wasn’t this.

It was a cave, massive, with most of the space filled floor to ceiling with some sort of device. Gladio inched closer. The thing looked ancient, carved crudely out of black rock . There was a hinged door on the front, which was open, and filled with hundreds of stone spikes. There was dried blood on most of them. His eyes followed a bright red wire attaching the old structure to a structure that looked far newer. It looked like some sort of medical bed, with screens surrounding it.

Gladio heard a slight noise to the side of them, through another door. 

“Go through.” Prompto instructed.

Gladio pushed the door open and the pair walked slowly. This corridor seemed different, there were rooms either side with a glass front. They looked like children's hospital rooms. There were cartoon characters painted on the walls and the floor was scattered with toys.

One held a few cribs, which filled Gladio with unease.

In the next room was a girl, Gladio’s heart skipped a beat as he recognised his sister. She looked a little dirtier than he last saw her but she seemed unharmed. She didn’t notice him right away, bent over a sketchbook and scribbling furiously. 

Prompto eased himself from under Gladio’s arm, and Gladio ran into the room.

Iris’s head shot up and a huge smile filled her face. “Gladdy!” she shouted, jumping into his arms.

He held her tightly, still shocked that he had found her. Prompto was smiling softly at the reunited pair.

“Are you hurt?” Gladio asked, checking her all over.

“I knew you would come!” she beamed happily, ignoring Gladio moving her limbs to see if she was hurt. “The red man said you wouldn’t but I knew he was wrong!”

“The red man?” 

“Yeah, he had red paint all over him. He’s strange, I don’t like him.”

“Did he do anything to you?” Gladio demanded.

“He took some blood.”

“C’mon we’re getting out of here.” Gladio said, firmly grabbing her hand and half dragging her out.

“Who’s that?” Iris asked, looking at Prompto with wide eyes.

“That’s Prompto, he helped me find you. We’re gonna have to walk slowly, he’s hurt his ankle.”

“We can’t leave.” Iris said, stopping dead.

“Why not?”

“Theres a boy, he was sleeping when I saw him last.”

“Where did you see him?” Prompto asked.

“In the room with the big windows.” Iris replied.

“Do you know where that is?” Gladio asked Prompto, he nodded.

“We have to go through the labs to get there.”

Gladio grabbed the wheelchair that was pushed into the corner of Iris’s room and forced Prompto into the seat. Iris walked beside them, holding a handful of Gladio’s dirty shirt in her hand.

They had to go back through the canteen and went through another door. None of the lights here seemed to be working, but it wasn’t a lack of electricity. All the computer monitors had the red standby light on. Massive screen in one room filled the area with a blueish light.

They all watched the screen in fascination as it went through some sort of slideshow, seemingly advertising _Izunia Medical Research_ to any prospective clients or investors.

The first slide showed some drawings of chemical structures, Gladio wasn’t particularly good at science so he didn’t know what they meant, he managed to scan the words below quickly. They said something about anomalies in two subjects that caused an increased lifespan.

The next slide had a picture of an armsy, with another chemical structure diagram in the corner, presumably showing the change in chemical makeup that made it look like it did. There were bullet points next to it, talking about its multiple arms, increased strength and extremely aggressive nature. The part that disturbed Gladio the most, however, was the part that said possible applications: guard.

Did that mean they were planning on selling these… things?

“Gladdy, I’m scared.” Iris said quietly.

Gladio ruffled her hair slightly and moved on.

The labs either side of this corridor had glass front, showing the inside of them clearly. In one, a middle aged man in a white lab coat hung from a rope tied to a ceiling pipe. The body had barely started rotting. It had either happened recently or something in the lab was keeping it fresh.

He started to walk forwards, but Prompto pulled the break up on the wheelchair, his eyes wide and face paler than usual.

“What’s wrong?” Gladio asked.

“I think that’s my dad.”

Gladio’s voice was quiet when he spoke, “Do you want me to get him down?” 

“We don’t have time.”

“Prom…”

“C’mon let’s go.” he said harshly, voice cracking slightly.

“Gladdy is that man okay?” Iris questioned softly. “He was nice, I liked him.”

Prompto turned to her. “You met him?”

She nodded. “He played with me after the red man took my blood. I saw them arguing.”

“He was alive this whole time and I didn’t know.” 

Gladio squeezed his shoulder, and Prompto lifted his hand to lace their fingers together.

The further along the corridor they got, the brighter it got. The door at the end had a steady stream of light filtering through.

Gladio opened the door to find a massive room, the front wall a giant window looking over the whole island. He could make out the yacht in the bay, barely bigger than a speck on the ocean.

The room was empty until the window, which had an array of consoles filled with buttons in front of it. Leading up to the slightly raised platform in front of the window was a short staircase, on which lay a man. He was red, just as Gladio saw on the plane and Iris described. His hair was long and a reddish brown.

“Stay here.” Gladio told Iris, pushing Prompto closer.

The closer they got, the more detail they could make out. There was a knife sticking out of his chest and a puddle of half congealed blood was below him on the step. Gladio guessed he couldn’t have been dead for long, a day or two at the most.

Placed carefully on the center console was an envelope, Prompto’s name clearly written on it. Gladio walked up the steps, avoiding the body and puddle of blood, and grabbed the letter. By the window, he could hear a strange humming sound, cut through with the howl of wind.

He handed the envelope over to Prompto. He opened it slowly, almost reverently, and they read it together.

_My dear son,_

_I’m sorry that it had to come to this, but I couldn’t let us continue the work that we were doing on this island._

_The work started out innocently enough, trying to alter genetics to save people from genetic diseases. The only problem was you were the only one it worked for. Ardyn was desperate to get it to work again, all he wanted to do was save his nephew from being bound in a wheelchair for his whole life._

_It didn’t stay innocent for long._

_You saw the creatures that the obelisk made._

_I’m afraid that Ardyn lost his mind after Noctis was killed. He was the only part of his beloved brother he had left and he was desperate to bring him back, no matter the cost. So he put the poor boy’s broken body in a cryogenic freezer and started to experiment._

_Ardyn found another artifact. This one he manipulated with electricity to make a rather marvelous invention, one of the most powerful and sensitive radars to ever be constructed, but with a twist. He used it to create a massive electromagnetic pulse. He used this pulse to take down any planes passing overhead, looking for survivors to experiment on._

_At first, he used adults. They just kept on turning into the horrible mutants. I became dismayed and stopped working on the project, turning to drink and looking out the window, hoping you were still alive on the island. Ardyn used to look for you, but it was good you were so adept at hiding. He thought you were the answer to save Noctis._

_We continued this for years. So many innocent people dead. I fell deeper into despair._

_The last plane he brought down, dear Gods, he came back with a little girl._

_He was taking her blood to see if she was a match. She was._

_He was going to put the girl into the obelisk and use her to bring Noctis back. He wouldn’t listen to reason, the poor boy was dead and broken and nothing would fix him._

_I couldn’t let him kill that girl, so I killed him first. I also turned off the cryogenic freezer. Noctis is truly dead now._

_I waited until I saw you entering the lab on the security monitors, then finished up this note. I didn’t want to face you after what I had done._

_I’m so sorry. All I wanted was for you to live. All I wanted was to have my boy back._

_I’m sorry._

_I hope I redeemed myself by fixing the radio. You should be able to call for help, get off this island._

_Dr. V. Besithia_

Prompto’s hands were shaking, clutched so tightly they were tearing the edges of the letter.

Gladio wanted to say something, but didn’t know what.

Eventually, Prompto folded the letter and put it in his pocket. “Are you okay?” Gladio asked gently.

“I dunno.” he replied, just as gently as Gladio spoke. “Shall we just get out of here? I can just process this shit in therapy.”

Gladio wanted to laugh, but he felt oddly drained.

He walked up to the console and switched on what he thought was the radio, it had a microphone next to it after all. 

It crackled with static as Gladio slowly turned the dial, trying to find a channel.

The static went.

“We need help. Over.” Gladio said.

There was another crackle. “What’s your status? Over.”

“Two adults and a child, we survived a plane crash. Over.”

“What are your coordinates? Over.”

Gladio spotted a piece of paper, stuck to the console and written in the same handwriting as the letter. “-49.152970, 69.194120. Over.”

There was a slight pause and a hiss of static, Gladio was terrified that they had lost the signal. “Hearing you loud and clear. A rescue helicopter is on the way. Over and out.”

Gladio sighed with relief. They were going to get off this island.

He turned and saw Iris was standing next to Prompto, chatting away to him about something. Prompto looked up at him, his face was etched with pain and exhaustion but he smiled at Gladio.

That’s when Gladio finally knew the ordeal was over.

He could go home.

**Author's Note:**

> 


End file.
